ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Election Commission
Howrah Express of South Eastern Railway Zone, Indian Railways to Carry Voter Awareness Messages
Kolkata, April 1, 2019
Election Commission of India and Indian Railways have join hands to utilise four long-distance trains to carry voter awareness messages. Howrah Express of South Eastern Railway Zone running between Ahmedabad and Howrah is one of the trains among these four.
Howrah Express is a daily superfast express train which covers 2087 kms in roughly 37 hours 35 minutes covering six States and having 63 stops. The States covered include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Some of the major stations are Surat, Jalgaon Junction, Akola, Nagpur, Durg, Bilaspur Junction, Champa, Raigarh, Jharsuguda Junction, Rourkela, Chakradharpur, Tatanagar, Kharagpur and Santragachhi. There are 17 stops in the way with the stoppage of five minutes or more. As the train travels across these six States, people will be encouraged to click a photograph with the train and upload it on social media for further spreading the message of voter awareness.
Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, West Bengal has also tied up with Metro Rail for spreading Voter Awareness messages which are already being displayed in all the Metro platforms in the city.
Ministry of Power
Investment approval for 382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project in Himachal Pradesh by SJVN
(The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the investment for 382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project in Himachal Pradesh by SJVN Limited, for an estimated cost of Rs. 2614.51 crore including Rs. 13.80 crore as budgetary support from Government of India for cost of enabling infrastructure. Ex-post facto approval is given for cumulative expenditure incurred amounting to Rs.246 crore till January, 2022.
Project cost of Rs.2614 crore included hard cost amounting to Rs.2246.40 crore, Interest During Construction  and Financing Charges  of Rs. 358.96 crore & 9.15 crore respectively. The revised cost sanctions for cost variations due to quantity changes  and time overruns due to the developer shall be capped at 10% of sanctioned cost.
Keeping in view the aims and objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the present proposal for setting up of 382 MW Sunni Dam HEP by SJVN shall provide various benefits to local suppliers/ local enterprises/ MSMEs and shall encourage entrepreneurship opportunities within the country besides promoting employment and socio-economic development of the region. The implementation of the project shall generate direct & indirect employment to about 4000 persons during peak construction of the project.
Ministry of Defence
Visit of Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff to Sri Lanka
Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval the Staff , will be visiting Sri Lanka from 13 to 16 December 2022. The CNS has been invited as the Chief Guest and Reviewing Officer for the Commissioning Parade at the Naval and Maritime Academy , Trincomalee, scheduled on 15 December 2022.
During the visit, the CNS will undertake interactions with senior political and defence leadership of Sri Lanka. He would also be visiting other defence establishments of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and review progress of various bilateral defence cooperation activities.
The Indian Navy regularly interacts with the Sri Lanka Navy through the medium of annual Staff Talks and pursues several operational engagements at regular frequency. The Indian Navy also supports several capacity building measures of Sri Lanka Navy such as provision of naval platforms, including indigenously constructed Offshore Patrol Vessels  and the Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy deployed to Sri Lanka since August 2022. In addition, the Indian Navy remains actively engaged in various capability enhancement projects, including training of the Sri Lanka Navy personnel in India. Sri Lanka Navy is a regular participant of various multilateral engagements hosted by the Indian Navy, such as the MILAN, Goa Maritime Conclave, Admiral’s Cup Sailing Regatta, etc.
The forthcoming visit would further enhance the long standing bilateral defence cooperation with Sri Lanka, specifically in the maritime domain.
Ministry of Education
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to interact with students, teachers and parents during ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ on 07th April, 2021
The 4th edition of Pariksha Pe Charcha, the unique interactive program of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with students, teachers and parents is being held for the first time in virtual mode while adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. The programme will be aired at 7 PM on Wednesday the 7th April, 2021 on TV channels and digital media in Hindi and other major Indian languages. This event is being organized successfully for the fourth consecutive year by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education.
An online creative writing competition was conducted at https://innovateindia.mygov.in/ppc-2021/ on various topics during 17th February to 14th March 2021 for children studying in classes of 9 to 12, teachers and parents.
Almost 14 lakh participants have registered themselves in the contest for the 4th edition of PPC. 10.5 lakh students, 2.6 lakh teachers and 92 thousand parents have enthusiastically participated in the creative writing contest. More than 60% of the students who participated are from classes 9th and 10th. For the first time students from 81 foreign countries have participated in the pre PPC creative writing contest.
The PPC main event can be seen on TV channels / digital media including EduMinofIndia, narendramodi, pmoindia, pibindia, DoordarshanNational, MyGovIndia, DDNews, RajyaSabhaTV, SwayamPrabha on their facebook and youtube channels from 7 PM onwards on 7th April, 2021. #ExamWarriors #PPC2021 are being extensively used on various social media platforms.
The Nation joins hands in celebrating the Utsav of examinations, ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha 2021’ so that maximum number of students, parents and teachers across the country benefit from the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s encouraging words of wisdom.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Rapidly charging E-cycle developed with Na-ion batteries and supercapacitors
Scientists have used nano-materials to develop Na-ion-based batteries and supercapacitors, which can be rapidly charged and have integrated them in e-cycles. The low-cost Na-ion-based technologies would be cheap and are expected to reduce the cost of the e-cycles significantly.
Sodium-ion  batteries have triggered academic and commercial interest as a possible complementary technology to lithium-ion batteries because of the high natural abundance of sodium and the consequent low costs of Na-ion batteries.
Professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Dr. Amreesh Chandra, has been researching to develop energy storage technologies, which are based on Na-ion, and his team has developed a large number of nanomaterials. The team has used sodium iron phosphates and sodium manganese phosphates which they synthesized to obtain Na-ion-based batteries and supercapacitors with support from the Technology Mission Division  of the Department of Science and Technology , Government of India. These sodium materials were combined with various novel architectures of carbon to develop a battery.
These sodium materials are cheaper than Li-based materials, high performing, and can be scaled up to industrial-level production. The Na-ion cell can also be totally discharged to zero volt, similar to a capacitor, making it a safer option in comparison to many other storage technologies. Taking advantage of the fact that Na-ion batteries can be charged rapidly, Dr. Amreesh has integrated it in e-cycles – an easy, affordable option for the general public.
With further development, the price of these vehicles can be brought down to the range of Rs. 10-15 K, making them nearly 25% cheaper than Li-ion storage technologies-based e-cycles. As disposal strategies of Na-ion-based batteries would be simpler, it can also help in addressing the climate mitigation issue. The research on the Supercapacitors was published in the Journal of Power Sources, and a few patents are in the pipeline on the use of these Na-ion-based batteries in e-cycles.
This research activity was funded under the DST’s Materials for Energy Storage scheme.
Publication Links: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ra/d1ra05474k
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378775321011745?via%3Dihub
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles loss of lives due to bus accident in Mandya, Karnataka
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has condoled the loss of lives due to bus accident in Mandya, Karnataka.
“Deeply pained by the bus accident in Karnataka’s Mandya. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. May God give them strength in this hour of sadness”, the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister's Office
PM speaks on telephone with His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Kingdom of Bahrain
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke on telephone today with His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Kingdom of Bahrain. HRH Prince Salman conveyed greetings on the occasion of Republic Day of India.
Both leaders reviewed the bilateral relations between India and Bahrain and expressed satisfaction that the relationship has seen continued progress in diverse sectors including political, trade and investment, energy, health, security and people-to-people contacts. India and Bahrain are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries in 2021-22.
Prime Minister thanked the Bahraini Leadership for taking excellent care of the Indian community in Bahrain during the Covid pandemic, as also for looking after their social and cultural needs.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conveyed his greetings to HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and reiterated his invitation to HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for a visit to India at an early date.
Ministry of Railways
Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, urges the Industry leaders to collaborate with Indian Railways in the journey of transformation
Shri Goyal addresses CII Rail Connect on the theme of Leveraging partnerships and Technology for Aatmanirbhar Railways
Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board outlines a roadmap of transformation for Indian Railways during the session
The Confederation of Indian Industries  has organised the second edition of Rail Connect today i.e.on 8 September 2020 on the virtual platform. The conference focused on the future plans of the Indian Railways, indigenous manufacturing, and Ease of doing business for the railway industry in India and deliberate upon the emerging opportunities for private industry in Rail Transportation sector covering public private partnership, technology, urban mobility, station development, locomotive modernization, rail freight, communication technology and the safety, health and sustainability standards of the railway system. The event witnessed the participation of Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII and industry leaders.
Addressing the inaugural session of the event, Shri Goyal said, "Indian Railways is rightly referred as the growth engine of the country by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. His vision is to make Indian Railways a strong entity which serves customers with modern technology and good service experience while maintaining the romanticism associated with Railways. There has been a transformation of Railways. During COVID phase, Indian Railways utilised the opportunity for removing bottlenecks, maintenance, running Shramik trains, bring back freight share, reinvigorating processes, making policy changes, engaging with private sector, technology providers, improving infrastructure." The Minister also stated that Indian Railways is pacing towards becoming Net Zero Carbon Emitter. He urged the industry leaders to collaborate and partner with Indian Railways to provide cost effective solutions in logistics sector and reducing logistic costs. He also stressed that Aatmanirbhar Railways depends on the participation of both, Railways and Industry.
Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board in his address talked about various steps taken by Indian Railways in the direction of modernisation, self reliance and green Railways. He outlined the plan for Indian Railways transformation and expressed that Indian Railways is open for collaborations and partnerships with the industry.
During the conference, various industry leaders appreciated the important role played by Railways during lockdown period and also the discernible changes in Railways.
Ministry of Railways
Railways gears up to run Oxygen Express
The Ro-Ro service with 7 empty tankers moved to VSPS from Kalamboli goods yard today
Mumbai, April 19, 2021
Railways have geared up to run Oxygen Express in response to its fight against Covid-19.
Team Mumbai Division has built a ramp overnight within 24 hours at Kalamboli goods yard to facilitate loading/unloading of tankers in/from flat wagons. The Ro-Ro service with 7 empty tankers departed from Kalamboli goods yard for Visakhapatnam steel plant siding at 8.05pm today. This train will move via Vasai Road, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Raipur Jn to Visakhapatnam steel plant siding in ECoR zone where it will be loaded with Liquid Medial Oxygen.
Railways transported essential commodities and kept the supply chain intact even during the lockdown last year and continue to serve the Nation in times of emergencies.
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Ministry of Home Affairs
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri G Kishan Reddy releases Bureau of Police Research and Development's  flagship publication Data on Police Organizations 
Shri G. Kishan Reddy, the Hon’ble Minister of State  released the BPR&D’s flagship publication, “Data on Police Organizations ”  in his office at the MHA, North Block, New Delhi on 24th October, 2019. Shri V. S. K. Kaumudi, DG, BPR&D, and other senior officers of the BPR&D were present.
The Data on Police Organisation in India is an important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and CPOs. This publication has proved very useful for various policy analyses and resource allocation decisions at both the MHA as well as the State level. The publication is also widely cited in several researches on police topics.
Major highlights of the DoPO 2018 are as under:
- For the one year, since the 2017 edition of the DoPO, there has been an increase of 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned strength of the State Police and 16,051 in the strength of CAPFs.
- There has been 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police which pushed up the total number of women personnel in the State Police Forces to 1,69,550. It brings the total percentage of women in the Indian Police to 8.73%.
- During this period, 1,24,429 Police personnel were recruited in the different ranks.
- An increase of 20.41% is noticed in the training expenditure on Police personnel during this period.
- The overall Police Population Ratio  at the state level stood at 192.95 policemen per lakh population, which shows marginal increase.
- During this period, about 20,149 family quarters of different types were constructed for police personnel.
vii. Other major improvements are as follows:-
a. Police Stations have increased from 15579 to 16422. This includes Cyber Police Stations whose number has risen from 84 to 120.
b. Electronic surveillance has improved, as there has been an addition of 2,10,278 CCTV Cameras. Now this number, as per the latest count, is 2,75,468.
The “Data on Police Organizations ”  will soon be available on the BPR&D website www.bprd.nic.in , in its “What’s New” section.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Bhutan's Economic Affairs Minister Shri Loknath Sharma calls on Union Agriculture Minister Shri Tomar
India will continue to provide all possible help to Bhutan in the Agriculture sector - Shri Tomar
Bhutan's Minister of Economic Affairs, Shri Loknath Sharma called on the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi today. During this meeting, Shri Tomar said India has extended all-out cooperation to Bhutan in the Agriculture sector and will continue to help in every possible way.
Welcoming the Bhutanese delegation, Shri Tomar expressed happiness over the longstanding friendly relations between the two countries, and said that Bhutan was the first country Shri Narendra Modi visited after becoming the Prime Minister, which underlines our strong relationship.
“India has been generously cooperating to enhance this friendship. The trade partnership between the two countries has also strengthened and India is in favour our ties should deepen further. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and other Ministries have been taking decisions constructively towards Bhutan. We are also working on opening up Indian markets for various agricultural products from Bhutan. On the request of Bhutan, it has been allowed to export ginger to India and potato export for one more year,” said Shri Tomar.
He assured that both the countries will continue to work together in the Agriculture sector and keeping in view the internal and external situation, we will take a positive approach to Bhutan's request as and when required.
The Bhutan Minister Shri Sharma thanked India for its cooperation in various matters including the supply of sugar to Bhutan. He said that the issues of Agriculture are important for us and that he has come to India to enhance the friendship between the two countries. Shri Sharma expressed his thanks for India's support to Bhutan's request regarding ginger and potato exports. He urged that Bhutan’s request for export of arecanut  to India should be considered at the earliest and trade in fruits and vegetables should continue in the present form and bilateral ties should grow through the free trade.
Special Service and Features
Webinar International Conference on Light Matter Interaction  at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam
International Conference on Light Matter Interaction  was organized by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research , Kalpakkam during May 19-21 online mode.
The conference focused on Light-Matter Interaction and its study using Optical Spectroscopy along with their applications in material sciences encompassing physical, and chemical sciences. The conference was inaugurated by Dr. A. K. Bhaduri, Drector IGCAR with welcome address by Dr. Shaju Albert, Director MSG. Chief Guest Prof. Chandrabhhas Narayana, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology , Trivandrum delivered the plenary lecture on “Application of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for studying Bio-molecular interactions” for the opening session.
The conference focused on the utilization of conventional as well as advanced optical spectroscopy on novel low dimensional materials, along with specific sessions on phase transformations under extreme conditions, and single quantum emission. Localized techniques namely near-field scanning optical microscopy  assisted, and surface and tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy  are another area of major interest. The webinar was attended by more than 800 leading scientists and student all over the world across six sub-continents of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. Indian participants were spread all over the country.The scientific deliberations were conducted in eight technical sessions with invited and contributory presentations. The conference presented an opportunity for young researchers to interact with leading experts in the specialized field of research. There were 13 foreign speakers spreading over five sub-continents and 18 Indian speakers form IITs, National Universities and Research Institutes.
Conference was attended by 800 participants and was well appreciated by all.
This is stated in a press release issued by Smt Jalaja Madan Mohan
Head TCPAS, RESD, HSEG, SQRMG, IGCAR, Chennai 600006
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
187.67cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
India's Active caseload currently stands at15,873
Active cases standat 0.04%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.75%
1,755recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to
4,25,19,479
2,593new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
83.47cr Total Tests conducted so far; 4,36,532tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Labour Minister Inaugurates ILO Centenary Celebrations in India
National Stakeholder Consultation on the Future of Work Held
Rs. 3648 Crore Spent Under PMRPY Benefiting About 1.5 Crore Workers: Shri Gangwar
Union Minister of State  for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar today inaugurated the International Labour Organization  centenary celebrations in India at V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Noida today.
At National Stakeholder consultation on the Future of Work, Shri Gangwar greeted the representatives of Trade Unions, Employer organizations and Workers at the beginning of the centenary celebration of ILO in the country. Shri Gangwar said that ILO is a unique agency of the United Nations Organization  which is tripartite in nature and works on the principal of collaboration among government, employers and workers. He said that ILO was established in 1919, and India being its founding member, has always played active role in every field of the organization. He added that India has ratified 47 out of 189 ILO conventions during the century. Out of eight core conventions we have ratified six and two conventions , which were related to child labour have been ratified by the present government.
Shri Gangwar further added that Government of India is sincerely working for the welfare and social security of workers. Around one crore 50 lakh employees have been benefitted from Pradhanmantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojna  and we have spent around Rs. 3648 crore till now. Recently in the present Interim Budget, the government has brought a Mega Pension Scheme for the workers of unorganized sector like Rickshaw pullers, small shopkeepers, agricultural and rural labourers. Around 3 crore unorganized sector workers are now being benefitted from Pradhanmantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojna  and Pradhanmantri Suraksha Beema Yojna , which is free of cost for the workers. He said that in current scenario of new technology, automation and artificial intelligence, the fear of loss of jobs has been felt. Global Commission of Future of Work has studied all these aspects and gives useful recommendations.
Future of Work report was discussed by all the stakeholders  in special context of our country. Four publications of V.V. Giri National Labour Institute were also released during the function. The panel discussion was chaired by Ms. Dagmar Walter, Director, ILO, DWT for South Asia and Country Office for India.
Ms. Sibani Swain, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Labour and Employment and Ms. Anuradha Prasad, Additional Secretary of the Ministry also participated in the discussions. Dr. A. Didar Singh, Member, Global Commission of the Future of Work gave a presentation of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work. Dr. H. Srinivas, Director General, VVGNLI welcomed the guest and presented introduction to the consultation.